“ The challenges facing the families we talked to are heartbreaking. Every single parent wants to give their children the best they can. But the impact of five brutal budgets is pushing them to the limits. Many parents have told us that putting food on the table for their children often means going without food themselves.” Fergus Finlay, Chief Executive, Barnardos Children’s Rights Alliance Report Card 2014 | 74 Chapter 4: Right to an Adequate Standard of Living Grade D Boost for local children By Jack Gleeson PARENTS and young children in Finglas are set to benefit from a new childhood programme designed to improve the lives of children in disadvantaged areas. Finglas was one of 13 locations nationwide selected for the €30 million Area-Based Childhood (ABC) early intervention programmes to support health and social projects in several countries. The ABC programme targets investment in evidence-based early In The News interventions – from pregnancy onwards - to improve the lives and futures for children and families living in areas of disadvantage. Local TD Róisín Shortall (Ind) welcomed the inclusion of Finglas in the children and parenting initiative, which was the result of a successful application from Better Finglas, a consortium made up of local groups, schools, Dublin City Council and State agencies. “I fought hard to have a commitment to such funding contained in the Programme for Government,” said Deputy Shortall. “I am glad to see that this is one promise the Government appears to be delivering on. Early intervention programmes are vital if we are ever to break the cycle of poverty and exclusion in large parts of Dublin.“It is about giving kids a chance in life and preventing problems before they begin. And it saves money in the long run.” Following the successful application confirmed last week, the Finglas ABC Programme now moves forward to design stage. If it receives final approval it will be a Barnardos- led project designed to provide better services for parents and children in Finglas South, Finglas West and part of Finglas East. The Finglas programme will be modelled on the successful youngballymun Initiative with an emphasis on child mental health, supports for parents and early interventions in literacy, numeracy and identifying health issues. There was good news too for the youngballymun programme which is now set to come under the ABC umbrella. Minister for Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald, said that evaluations from three pilot programmes, including youngballymun, demonstrated significant improvements in outcomes for children in a number of areas. Northside People West, 2 December 2013 www.dublinpeople.ie Children’s Rights Alliance Report Card 2014 | 75 Overall 4 | R ight to an Grade D Adequate Standard of Living The Right to an Adequate The Right to an Adequate Standard of Living gets a ‘D’ grade this year, a slight Standard of Living increase from last year’s ‘D-’ grade. However, child poverty remains high: the Every child has the right to a EU Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC) figures, published in 2013, standard of living that is adequate shows that 9.3% of children are living in consistent poverty while 18.8% of children to their development – physical, are at risk of poverty.426 While the Department of Social Protection’s Social impact mental, spiritual, moral and social. assessment of the main welfare and direct tax measures in Budget 2013 found that While parents and guardians there was no significant change in the at-risk-of-poverty rate, it also confirmed have the primary responsibility that households with children were the worst affected by the cuts made in Budget to provide for the child’s material 2013, in particular lone parent households.427 needs, the State also has the responsibility to assist parents and Child Poverty gets an ‘E-’ grade this year – an improvement on Report Card guardians to alleviate poverty where 2013. This is due to the fact that although the Government, protected rates needed. | Summary of Article 27 of of child income supports in Budget 2014 and children for the most part, and the UNCRC families were spared the harsh cuts of previous budgets, it was not enough to reverse the impact that austerity budgets have already had on them. It is also disappointing that the sub-target to reduce child poverty has still not been set. Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme gets a ‘C+’ grade in recognition of the allocation of €4 million in Budget 2014 and the selection of an additional nine sites for this important initiative. In Children and the Social Welfare System, the recommendations of the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare have not been implemented resulting in a ‘D’ grade to reflect the lack of any real change. Budget 2014 maintained child income supports at existing rates. This is a welcome reprieve from severe cuts in successive budgets, which has saved the Exchequer €450 million since 2009.428 However, cuts to Maternity Benefit will have a detrimental effect on working mothers with newborn babies contrary to Article 18 (parental responsibilities) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, the failure to reverse cuts to the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will have a negative impact on children fulfilling their right to education under Article 28 as many parents cannot afford the high cost of school uniforms or the necessary clothing items to ensure that their child is properly dressed for school. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its 2007 day of General Discussion on ‘Resources for Rights’, made clear the obligation on States to undertake targeted measures to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards the full realisation of economic, social and cultural rights of children and that a financial crisis should not be used as a reason to delay.429 The UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty reiterated this point on her trip to Ireland in 2011.430 The Government’s commitment in its Strategy for Growth: Medium-Term Economic Strategy 2014 – 2020 to ‘reduce inequality and improve poverty outcomes across society, with a particular emphasis on child poverty’431 is welcome but this must not be done at the expense of human rights. 426 Central Statistics Office (2013) EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2011 & Revised 2010 Results, Dublin: Stationery Office. 427 Department of Social Protection, Social impact assessment of the main welfare and direct tax measures in Budget 2013, http://www.welfare.ie/en/ downloads/2013-03_SIABudget2013_Final.pdf, p. 1. [accessed 11 February 2014]. 428 End Child Poverty Coalition, Position Paper on Reforming Child Income Supports April 2013, http://www.endchildpoverty.ie/publications/documents/ ECPCPositionPaperReformingChildIncomeSupports.pdf, p.3. [accessed 11 February 2014]. 429 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 46th session (2007) Day of General Discussion on ‘Resources for the Rights of the Child – Responsibility of States, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CRC/Discussions/Recommendations/Recommendations2007.doc [accessed 5 January 2014]. 430 UN General Assembly (2011), Report of the Independent Expert on the Question of Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, A/HRC/17/34/Add.2. 431 Department of Finance (2013) A Strategy for Growth: Medium-Term Economic Strategy 2014 – 2020. Dublin: Stationery Office, p.15. Children’s Rights Alliance Report Card 2014 | 76 4.1 Child Poverty Grade E- Commitment Progress The Programme for Government states that the elimination Limited progress of poverty is an objective of this Government and that it is committed to achieving the targets in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion to reduce the number of people experiencing poverty. What’s happening? A new national sub-target to reduce child poverty was promised but has not yet been set by Government. There were no further cuts to child income supports in Budget 2014. However, Maternity Benefit was subject to a further cut and the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance was not restored to its previous value. The School Meals budget was maintained at €37 million. Budget 2014 did not introduce any further cuts to rates for child or family income supports. However, the change announced in Budget 2013 to introduce a uniform rate of Child Benefit of €130 per month for all children came into operation in January 2014. The rate of Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) was not reduced as it had been in the previous two years. However, young people over 18 in third level education will no longer receive the payment: this measure is expected to save €2.5 million. Maternity Benefit and Adoptive Benefit were standardised to a weekly rate of €230 for all new applicants. Previously the minimum rate of payment was €217.80 and the maximum rate was €262.432 90% of women claim the higher rate of Maternity Benefit.433 In the National Action Plan for Social (NAP) Inclusion 2007-2016,434 the Government committed to reduce the number of people experiencing consistent poverty to between 2% and 4% by 2012, with the aim of eliminating consistent poverty 435 by 2016. In 2012, the Government revised this figure, following publication of a review of the national poverty target.436 The target has been renamed the ‘national social target for poverty reduction’ and is now set at reducing consistent poverty to 4% by 2016 (interim target) and to 2% or less by 2020, from the 2010 baseline rate of 6.2%. In November 2013, a biennial report was 432 For full analysis of Budget 2014 and its impact on children, see: Children’s Rights Alliance (2013) Analysis of Budget 2014 and its Impact on Children, Dublin: Children’s Rights Alliance.